Evaluation of Class A Pan Coefficient Models for Estimation of Reference Crop Evapotranspiration in Cold Semi-Arid and Warm Arid Climates

Evapotranspiration and evaporation measurements are important parameters for many agricultural activities such as water resource management and environmental studies. There are several models which can determine pan coefficient (K <Subscript>Pan</Subscript>), using wind speed, relative humidity and fetch length conditions. This paper analyses seven exiting pan models to estimate K <Subscript>Pan</Subscript> values for two different climates of Iran. Monthly mean reference crop evapotranspiration (ET<Subscript>0</Subscript>) was calculated according to the pan-ET<Subscript>0</Subscript> model. The results showed that estimated pan coefficients by majority of the suggested models were not statistically accurate to be used in the pan-ET<Subscript>0</Subscript> conversion method. However, for the cold semi-arid climate condition, the best K <Subscript>Pan</Subscript> models for estimation of ET<Subscript>0</Subscript> were Orang and Raghuwanshi–Wallender, respectively. Also, the Snyder and Orang models were best fitted models for warm arid climate, respectively. The mean annual value of K <Subscript>Pan</Subscript>, determined by Penman–Monteith FAO 56 (PMF-56) standard model for warm arid sites, was approximately 32% higher than the corresponding value in the cold semi-arid climate. Similarly, the mean annual ET<Subscript>0</Subscript> in the warm arid sites was 66% higher, compared to the ET<Subscript>0</Subscript> of the cold semi-arid sites. These types of warm arid and semi-arid climates are found widely throughout the world. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2010